The term "Flying Saucer" was coined by the reporters from the East Oregonian newspaper that had interviewed K. Arnold.

The Roswell wreckage was found 11 days after Arnold saw the "Saucers". There was an ongoing U.S. and international UFO flap happening in the
interim.

ETA:

Widespread UFO reports after Arnold sighting

In the weeks that followed Arnold's June, 1947 story, at least several hundred reports of similar sightings flooded in from the U.S. and around the
world — most of which described saucer-shaped objects. A sighting by a United Airlines crew of another nine, disk-like objects over Idaho on July
4 probably garnered more newspaper coverage than Arnold's original sighting, and opened the floodgates of media coverage in the days to follow.

I think we've always seen UFO's, it's just after Kenneth Arnold coined the phrase "like saucers skipping" we had a universal name for them regardless
of the actual shape.

I think anytime before the name U.F.O. and Flying Saucer came about they were called things like " lights in the sky and flying chariots".

Edit: Also I would like to add that we have a very cruel history for people who reported seeing things like ships in the sky. Not so long ago such a
simple conversation could end you up looking like a crack pot or even persecuted for witchery. I think we often take today's conversation openness
for granted when not long ago we had no such thing.

The earliest UFO sightings in recorded history can be found in 4th century Chinese texts claiming that a "moon boat" hovered above China every 12
years. Other enthusiasts cite the Book of Ezekiel, in which a curious vessel dropped from the sky and landed in Chaldea, in modern-day Kuwait. A wave
of sightings occurred near Rome in 218 B.C. and again in Germany in 1561.

We have used many names for them through time, and we''ll have a new name for them in the future.

Kenneth Arnold described a delta winged aircraft. How soon after did people (the general population) report seeing flying saucers?

People have reported seeing saucer shaped objects well before Arnold's report , the earliest reported sighting I'm aware of is 329 BC from Alexander
the Great.

Alexander the Great records two great silver shields, spitting fire around the rims in the sky that dived repeatedly at his army as they were
attempting a river crossing. The action so panicked his elephants, horses, and men they had to abandon the river crossing until the following day.www.ufoevidence.org...

Don't know if these are the first for visitation may have been occurring before current time frame established by mankind OP. Here are a few ancient
versions.

UFO-
Critical to their rivalry -- particularly from Earth’s viewpoint -- was the fact that Enki had been the first of the Anunnaki to hazard a trip to
Earth to begin a mining operation for gold. When this effort did not apparently produce gold in sufficient quantities, Enlil was brought in, given
command, and armed with a new plan (an early version of the New Deal). The revised program was to mine gold from deep mines in the Earth.
According to Sumerian texts (as detailed in Genesis of the Grail Kings [1]), during a visit by their father, Anu (the archetypal absentee landlord),
the Anunnaki made a decision:
“The gods had clasped their hands together,
Had cast lots and had divided.
Anu then went up to heaven.
To Enlil the Earth was made subject.
The seas, enclosed as with a loop,
They had given to Enki, the Prince of Earth.”

UFO-

ISHTAR/INANNA MOON EGG

She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River.

This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.

Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg."

UFO-

Tsum Um Nui noted specifically that one glyph apparently said "The Dropa came down from the clouds in their aircraft. Our men, women and children hid
in the caves ten times before sunrise. When at last we understood the sign language of the Dropas, we realized that the newcomers had peaceful
intentions".[5]

UFO-

The predecessors of the flying vimanas of the Sanskrit epics are the flying chariots employed by various gods in the Vedas: the Sun (see Sun chariot)
and Indra and several other Vedic deities are transported by flying wheeled chariots depicted to be pulled by animals, usually horses.

USO_
Kukulcan is one of the three gods that was thought to have created the Earth. He is a serpent in his natural form and was responsible for teaching the
Mayan's about such things as how to run a civilization, agriculture, and medicine. After a brief period of being on Earth Kukulcan returned to the
ocean telling the Mayans that he would return at some later date.

It depends on whether or not you go along with archealogical explainations for some VERY UFO like petroglyphs (ancient rock carvings), and ancient
cave art dating back tens of thousands of years, that clearly show classic UFO images, but are described as 'religious fantasy', imagination, and
other more prosaic descriptions of what they picture.

I mean...nobody really expects an establishment archaeologist to say 'Yes, and here we have a wonderfully preserved illustration of a late neolithic
/ early Bronze age ET mothership dropping dozens of scout craft...do they?

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
Didnt Mr. Arnold describe them as being like two saucers, one inverted-put together?

No , he said "They were silvery and shiny and seemed to be shaped like a pie plate" , here's a picture of Mr Arnold with a drawing of what he saw.

"The first thing I noticed was a series of flashes in my eyes as if a mirror was reflecting sunlight at me..."

"I saw the flashes were coming from a series of objects that were traveling incredibly fast. They were silvery and shiny and seemed to be shaped like
a pie plate...What startled me most at this point was...that I could not find any tails on them." www.ufocasebook.com...

Easy answer. First recorded in Ancient India. The 'gods' had fights in the skies with space ships while the Indian peasants watched. That's
something like 6,000 BC. Read about the Vimanas. Of course, people may have seen them earlier than that, but that's the earliest recorded
that I know of.

Kenneth Arnold described a delta winged aircraft. How soon after did people (the general population) report seeing flying saucers?

People have reported seeing saucer shaped objects well before Arnold's report , the earliest reported sighting I'm aware of is 329 BC from Alexander
the Great.

Alexander the Great records two great silver shields, spitting fire around the rims in the sky that dived repeatedly at his army as they were
attempting a river crossing. The action so panicked his elephants, horses, and men they had to abandon the river crossing until the following day.www.ufoevidence.org...

That Alexander tale has been going around for decades. However it is completely unsourced, no matter how many websites claim "Alexander the Great
records..." this or that.

originally posted by: Ophiuchus 13
Don't know if these are the first for visitation may have been occurring before current time frame established by mankind OP. Here are a few ancient
versions.

UFO-
Critical to their rivalry -- particularly from Earth’s viewpoint -- was the fact that Enki had been the first of the Anunnaki to hazard a trip to
Earth to begin a mining operation for gold. When this effort did not apparently produce gold in sufficient quantities, Enlil was brought in, given
command, and armed with a new plan (an early version of the New Deal). The revised program was to mine gold from deep mines in the Earth.
According to Sumerian texts (as detailed in Genesis of the Grail Kings [1]), during a visit by their father, Anu (the archetypal absentee landlord),
the Anunnaki made a decision:
“The gods had clasped their hands together,
Had cast lots and had divided.
Anu then went up to heaven.
To Enlil the Earth was made subject.
The seas, enclosed as with a loop,
They had given to Enki, the Prince of Earth.”

Anu left after his defeat. There's no "ship" mentioned at all, and the first part of your post is all anyone needs to see to conclude that the sum
total of your knowledge concerning Ancient Mesopotamia is a line of hooey from a con man, which you have swallowed and have yet to digest.

She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River.

This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox.

Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg."

The part about the egg is simply false. There was one minority variation concerning Inanna (Ishtar,) who iwas in the majority considered to be the
daughter of Anu. This minor view considered her the daughter of the Moon god Sin.

"Easter" does not come from "Ishtar."

I suspect the descent myth being referred to here concerns Inanna's descent into the underworld, not a splashdown from a moon ship.

Tsum Um Nui noted specifically that one glyph apparently said "The Dropa came down from the clouds in their aircraft. Our men, women and children hid
in the caves ten times before sunrise. When at last we understood the sign language of the Dropas, we realized that the newcomers had peaceful
intentions".[5]

The Dropa hoax was admitted to at least twenty years ago.
UFO-

originally posted by: Ophiuchus 13The predecessors of the flying vimanas of the Sanskrit epics are the flying chariots
employed by various gods in the Vedas: the Sun (see Sun chariot) and Indra and several other Vedic deities are transported by flying wheeled chariots
depicted to be pulled by animals, usually horses.

So, where are the horse-drawn flying saucers now?

originally posted by: Ophiuchus 13USO_
Kukulcan is one of the three gods that was thought to have created the Earth. He is a serpent in his natural form and was responsible for teaching the
Mayan's about such things as how to run a civilization, agriculture, and medicine. After a brief period of being on Earth Kukulcan returned to the
ocean telling the Mayans that he would return at some later date.

There's no source for that story. In some myths, Kukuklan flies into the sea (with no "I'll be back") and is never seen again. In others, he
burns himself to death (as Quetzalcoatl.)

But, either way, where's the saucer here?

originally posted by: FlyersFan
Easy answer. First recorded in Ancient India. The 'gods' had fights in the skies with space ships while the Indian peasants watched. That's
something like 6,000 BC. Read about the Vimanas. Of course, people may have seen them earlier than that, but that's the earliest recorded
that I know of.

As pointed out, vimanas originally were pulled through the air by flying animals, elephants, horses, etc.

Actually the first UFO sighting in the U.S. was in the 1700's... believe it or not, two men were standing by a ship, and saw lights flying low above
a river. Just can't remember where it was. I know it was east coast. :-)

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